In the Reform Era, the Chinese Government has placed great emphasis on the role of education in ensuring the economic success of individuals and of the country as a whole. While vocational and academic post-secondary qualifications are officially set at the same level, vocational education is positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy…

Rural America has long been perceived as "left behind" by policies that leave it struggling while benefiting bustling urban cities and suburbs. That narrative holds some truth: rural America has a declining population, along with lower educational attainment and lower workforce participation than urban America. But while rural America…

Part 3 of the Houston Longitudinal Study on the Transition to College and Work (HLS) examined: (1) Supply and demand for labor in the Houston area and Texas, including an examination of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's (THECB) "60×30TX" strategic plan; (2) In-demand occupations and skills in the Houston area; and (3) Early…

This document is the appendices for "Transitioning to College and Work Part III: Labor Market Analysis in Houston and Texas." The report examined: (1) Supply and demand for labor in the Houston area and Texas, including an examination of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's (THECB) "60×30TX" strategic plan; (2)…

Changes in educational policy in Russia will affect the proportion of young people who obtain their occupational qualifications in a university and in secondary-level professional training schools. There is currently a shortage of skilled blue-collar workers in Russia, and more needs to be done to ensure high-quality training for this sector of…

The Great Recession that began in December 2007 laid bare many of the shortcomings of the American workforce, especially the lack of workers with postsecondary education. A large majority of jobs lost in the recession and in the recovery had been held by workers with a high school diploma or less. The only real gains made during the still…

The rising cost of college education and high unemployment levels among recent college graduates are raising the question "Is college worth its cost?" in the minds of many Americans. A recent study published by the Associated Press found that one out of every two recent college graduates is jobless or underemployed, suggesting maybe college isn't…

This report is the successor to "Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Demand through 2018," in which researchers examined the connections between educational attainment and educational demand in the labor market. In this report, the authors update the jobs projected to be available through 2020, using a macro-micro modeling…

For recent high school graduates, life is tough. In the past year, one in four young high school graduates was unemployed and over half were underemployed. In the past decade, recent high school graduates' wages have fallen by 12 percent to just $19,400 annually in 2011, below the poverty threshold for a family of four. The downward plight of high…

This paper illuminates a period of change in the lives of a group of 20 vocational lecturers as they find themselves challenged by both their own and others' categorisation of what and who they are. Such conflicting perspectives are made even starker by their management's introduction of technological innovation into the lecturers' traditional…

The recession that began in December of 2007 is already 30 months old, but the U.S. economy will not recover its pre-recession employment levels for at least another two years. From there, it will take an additional three years to make up for lost growth and create a job market strong enough to employ both the casualties of the recession and the…

Discusses how for-profit colleges are adapting to the decline in the high-technology job market by offering programs to train "old economy" workers in skilled trades. (EV)

Summarizes the 1991 National Organizations Study on formal job training programs. Finds that blue-collar core occupations receive as much company training as white-collar occupations. Determines that the more extensive a company's internal labor market, the more formal training programs are used for advancement and promotion. (CFR)

Career counseling is a particularly critical need for blue collar men, displaced workers from the declining industries of manufacturing. This article uses developmental theory based on the model of adult development of Daniel Levinson (1978), "Seasons of a Man's Life," to discuss the difficulty of blue collar men in attaining developmental…

A critical analysis of terminal vocational education reveals that its benefits may be modest, at best. Supporters argue that vocational education will reduce unemployment by preparing more students for upwardly-mobile "middle-level" jobs. They further contend that vocational education will reduce the number of four-year college graduates and bring…